Community Chat

[halfpint1]

Forever Stamp--Heard on the news this morning it was going up this Sunday. I didn't hear how much it would be. Did anyone else hear about it?

[cherry]

snip

might be called a "Forever" stamp, but not when it comes to the price of buying one.

The cost of mailing a one-ounce first-class letter will return to being 49 cents, up from 47 cents, where it had been since April.

The last increase came in January 2014, according to the U.S. Postal Service, when it went from 47 cents to 49 cents. Then last April, the Postal Regulatory Commission ordered the USPS to drop its prices for the first time in 97 years. Postmaster General Megan Brennan protested, saying, "given our precarious financial condition and ongoing business needs, the price reduction required by the PRC exacerbates our losses."

So now the price is going to back up again. Postcards, letters mailed to other countries and heavier letters aren't affected.

The word "Forever" refers to when it can be stuck on an envelope and get the letter to its destination, not how long its cost will remain unchanged.

[Lucky Charm]

I thought it just went down?

[ValuSkr]

Thanks for the heads-up.  I'm low on stamps, will go to the Post Office on Saturday.

[sunshine45]

here are all the new rates for 2017 in pdf form.

http://www.stamps.com/whitepapers/2017-usps-postage-rate-increase-guide.pdf

[Annabellethecat66]

I'll bet you guys didn't know that it actually went DOWN several months ago.

The price of mailing a letter will fall for the first time in nearly a century this Sunday.

And the U.S. Postal Service, which was ordered to cut the price by its regulator, is not happy about that.

USPS said the decline in the cost of a postage stamp, from 49 cents to 47 cents, will cost it $2 billion this year, and make it more difficult for it to compete and provide the service its customers demand.

I figured it wouldn't last.  Probably like so many things, a mismanagement of money!  

[Verdana]

I didn't know they went down then are going up lol!

We bought so many of them afew years ago and don't use them much.

[Roni18]

Just glad they went to the "Forever" concept so we don't have to run out and buy new stamps or add those penny stamps every time it goes up.

[Mominohio]

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@Roni18 wrote:

Just glad they went to the "Forever" concept so we don't have to run out and buy new stamps or add those penny stamps every time it goes up.

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Yes!!

IT was such a pain to have to keep getting extra small postage every time the prices went up and you still had old stamps.

I love that we don't have to worry about that anymore. 

I already bought 100 stamps earlier this month, knowing the price was going up, might pick up a few more before Sunday. 

I usually buy stamps by the 100 or so, and they tend to last me about a year.

[Zernia Rose]

I appreciate the USPS immensely.  I find them efficient given the scale of mail and packages that are processed.  The patience many exhibit with individuals that don't bring a box or tape and expect the postal worker to pack and mail their wares is unbelievable.  Similarly, the manner in which I find that they answer questions that have answers clearly displayed overhead is admirable.  Yes, there are those that are inefficient and rude; like most corporations, they are not the majority.

The USPS is one of the few government entities that has to fully fund its pension program more than 30 plus years in advance. That is what causes your postal rates to increase among other reasons such as the extensive use of the internet.  If not for this stipulation (placed in an unrelated bill by a sneaky representative at the last minute), then the USPS would post amazing surpluses.  

If nothing else, how many companies if, God forbid, the USPS is privatized, would venture into every city neighborhood, suburb, rural area, and small town to deliver a letter for $0.49? Most of the rest of the industrialized nations and those not so industrialized charge more than twice the USPS rate to deliver a one ounce letter!

I support the USPS and increasing the rate to $0.50 or more is still a bargain.